Sink drain aid

ABSTRACT

A method for removing a sink drain stopper includes providing a sink drain aid including a handle and a suction cup connected to the handle; engaging the sink drain aid suction cup to a sink stopper; and pulling on the handle to remove the sink drain stopper. A device to perform the method includes the sink drain aid described.

BACKGROUND

A sink stopper normally sits at the bottom of the sink in a state ofrest, ignored by people using the sink. But in the moments when thewater flow slows and or the stopper drops so low that it slows waterfrom draining from the sink, a person will want to raise the stoppereither partially or fully.

In that moment, a person may press the stopper lift rod that usuallyprotrudes from the back of a faucet. Depending on how the sink was setup, this may or may not raise the stopper. In all likelihood, unless thelift rod assembly was recently adjusted, this will not lift the stopper.When this happens, the person's options are more limited. If they areenterprising and handy, they can adjust the lift rod assemblythemselves, or crawl under their sink and manually “pop” up the stopperfrom below by pushing up a pivot rod. Or they can reach through thedirty water in the sink and attempt to pry up the stopper with a thinblade, which could puncture the gasket or damage the blade, sink, orstopper. All of these approaches are suboptimal and yet this remains anearly universal challenge.

Even when not stuck in the closed position, stopper removal can be achallenge and may require contact between a person's hands and whatevermay have formed or grown on an underside of the stopper and gasket.

A need thus exists for a device to aid people in the removal of thestopper.

SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A method for removing a sink drain stopper includes providing a sinkdrain aid including a handle and a suction cup connected to the handle;engaging the sink drain aid suction cup to a sink stopper; and pullingon the handle to remove the sink drain stopper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the sink drain aid in an environment.

FIGS. 2A-2D show the sink drain aid in a sequence of steps in use.

FIGS. 3A-3C and 4A-4C show different embodiments of the sink drain aid.

FIG. 5 shows the sink drain aid used in a second manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an illustration of the invention in use with a traditionalsink 50. Before introducing the sink drain aid 100, we will describe theoperation of the sink 50. A traditional sink 50, such as that typicallyfound in a residential bathroom includes a bowl 52, faucet 54, and drain56. In normal use, water passes through the faucet 54 into the bowl 52and drains from the bowl 42 through the drain 56 into the tail piecedrain 60, which through a trap and other drainage pipes, eventuallyconnects into a sewer, the ultimate piping destination for the sinkwaste.

The tail piece 60 connects to the sink bowl 52 through a flange 58,which generally includes male threading attached to the bowl 52 andfemale threading in the flange 58, along with a sealed engagementbetween the flange 58 and tail piece 60.

The drain 56 and tail piece 60 contain the stopper 70. The stopper 70has two familiar positions. As shown in FIG. 1, the first position isthe open position, which for most sinks 50, is the rest position. Thesecond position is a closed position, in which a person (or theforce/weight of the water in the bowl 52, or merely the slow action ofbumps, weight of water, and time) lowers the stopper 70 until itssealing gasket 72, which is slightly larger than a portion 57 of thedrain 56, engages the drain 56 and prevents the flow of water throughtherethrough.

The action of several other parts of the sink assembly assists inraising and lowering the stopper 70. At rest, the stopper 70 sits on astopper-engaging end 82 of a pivot rod 80, or a nut 83 at the end of thepivot rod 80. The pivot rod 80 pivots on a pivot ball 84 that is sealed(sealing not shown) within the tail piece 60 pivot port 62. The pivotrod 80 has a Clovis engagement end 86 that extends through one ofseveral holes 92 in a Clovis strap 90. (Note: Although the Clovis strap90 includes the name “strap” within it, it is generally made from a thincorrosive resistant material like aluminum.)

The Clovis strap 90 and pivot rod 80 engage one another through both oneof the several holes 92 and also the spring clip 94. A manual adjustmentto each of these, as well as the Clovis screw 96 usually allows for easystopper manipulation for a time.

The Clovis strap 90 includes a faucet stopper rod engagement end 97 withan engagement head 98 including holes 99 therethrough for engaging afaucet stopper rod 55.

When perfectly adjusted, movement of the faucet stopper rod 55 up anddown acts on the Clovis strap 90, which in turn moves the pivot rod 80,which raises and lowers the stopper 70. Misalignment may occur when anyof the aforementioned many parts self-adjusts, which can result in thestopper 70 being stuck in the closed position.

When this happens, a person may use the sink drain aid 100. The sinkdrain aid 100 includes a handle body 110 and suction cup 120. Theengagement body 110 includes a handle 112 (currently shown as a hook,although other shapes are possible) and a suction cup engagement end114. The handle's engagement end 114 engages the suction cup 120 at asuction cup engagement end 124, through threading (male on the suctioncup engagement end 114) or other suitable water corrosion resistantmeans. The suction cup 120 includes a convex flexible cup 122 thatfunctions as a common suction cup and must be sized smaller than thestopper 70 to which it will be applied to be effective. The suction cupmay be of different sizes, but through experimentation, the inventorshave found that a 1.25-inch cup in diameter works for a wide variety ofstoppers 70.

In use, a person holds the handle 110 which may be in a semi-circularshape, and extends it through the water (or not) in the sink bowl 52,aligning the suction cup 120 and over the stopper 70. Once aligned, theperson presses the suction cup 120 onto the stopper 70 until they areengaged. At this point, merely drawing the sink drain aid 100 upwards byits handle 110 also pulls the stopper 70 upwards. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and2D show the sequence of the stopper 70 removal using the sink drain aid100 steps.

The handle may be of a water and corrosion resistant plastic such aspolyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene,polycarbonate, acrylic, or ABS, though this list is not exclusive ofother material choices that would not decay with repeated exposure tomoisture.

FIGS. 3A-3C show an alternate embodiment of the sink drain aid 300 inwhich the cross section through the handle 310 is rectangular (square asshown). The aid handle 310 may engage the suction cup 320 via malethreading 322 on the suction cup 320 into female threading on the aidhandle 310.

The sink drain aid 100 may also be in the form shown in FIG. 1, or otherforms as a sink drain aid 400 shown in FIGS. 4A-4C with a terminalhandle end 414 that turns inwards on itself such that it better engagesitems hung therefrom and a person's hand in use. The handle can alsocome in other forms, with a bulbous or even just a straight end.

As shown in FIG. 5, the sink drain aid 100 may be stored (using thesuction cup 120) against the side of the sink 50 or other surface andfunction as a towel 550 holder or serve other purposes as it protrudesfrom a surface.

While the invention has been described with reference to the embodimentsabove, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand thatvarious changes or modifications may be made thereto without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

1. A sink drain aid comprising: a handle for engagement to a user'shand; and a suction cup engaged to the handle and configured to engage asink drain stopper.
 2. The sink drain aid of claim 1, further comprisinga threaded engagement between the handle and the suction cup.
 3. Thesink drain aid of claim 1, wherein the handle has semi-circular shape.4. The sink drain aid of claim 1, wherein the handle has a circularcross-section.
 5. The sink drain aid of claim 1, wherein the handle hasa rectangular cross section.
 6. A method for removing a sink drainstopper comprising: providing a sink drain aid including a handle and asuction cup connected to the handle; engaging the sink drain aid suctioncup to a sink stopper; and pulling on the handle to remove the sinkdrain stopper from a sink.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprisingattaching the sink drain aid to the sink via the suction cup.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising attaching a towel to the handle.